For real, how crazy has 2020 been so far? If it’s taught me anything though, it’s to be resourceful in how I use ingredients so they don’t go to waste. It ended up going in a Greek inspired direction once I found the Kalamata olives in my cabinet. Unfortunately, I was out of feta! I LOVE feta so that will be going on my next grocery delivery ASAP. This fun salad has me dreaming of warmer days and being out of the house!

I want to hear from you! With recipes, what do you want to see more of? Sides, Appetizers, or Entrees?

Easter 2020 is over and even though it was celebrated different than in past years, it was still a very memorable day. Along with being Easter, it was my boyfriend and I’s 4 year anniversary! We actually went on our first date the day before Easter 4 years ago, and the rest is history. Four years ago I made this Italian Easter Bread for the first time and it’s made an appearance every year since! This year was a little extra special as we spent the day at our new house still as dreamy eyed in love as 4 years ago (and eating A LOT of bread). With a little extra time on my hands this Easter compared to years past, I decided to make not one but TWO types of breads! The first was our families Italian Easter Bread and the other was Hot Cross Buns.

Italian Easter Bread fresh out of the oven!

I highly recommend making both! They are both yeast breads but the dough is much more foolproof. One of the reasons is the use of instant yeast, meaning you put the yeast with all other ingredients instead of placing it in warm water/milk to activate. Read on for the Italian Easter Bread recipe. The Hot Cross Buns recipe is compliments of King Arthurs Flour and can be found here.

With all of the remodeling and moving, a home cooked meal is very welcome for both my boyfriend and I. I’ve made this a few times and it has definitely been added to my go to dishes when I need a meal but don’t have tons of time. The trick? Rotisserie chicken, premade pie crust, and frozen vegetables! With how bare the shelves were around us, I was extra surprised to see those ingredients when I ran in for an emergency meal supplies during the move.

As promised, below are the before and (almost) after photos of our bedroom remodel! The only items we have left to do is add molding where the built in used to be, around the door frame with the barn doors, and find a comforter that fits the room! I didn’t mean for the color scheme to be so beachy but after picking the blue for the accent wall, the coastal theme fit perfectly with what we wanted! I am saving the bathroom because we have a few additional items past molding to finish up. Also, sorry for the mess in the photos! Once the true after photo is ready, I’ll share that on my Instagram. Make sure to follow me on my Instagram, @take2create, for even more content.

I’ve been MIA on the blog for a little bit but guys it’s because I have big news… we bought a house!! We closed on February 21st and until yesterday we were doing some remodel work. It’s been keeping us very busy and between the remodel and work, I slept in for the first time today! It was all worth it though because our master suite is completely redone and beautiful! I’ll show that before and after in the next post because today I wanted to show the quickest change we made to our house that made a HUGE difference to the overall look. On our closing day, we changed out all of the handles in our kitchen from a patterned nickel to an oil rubbed bronze. This looks changed the look immensely and is way more our style!

Today is my first employee appreciation day as a manager and I wanted to do something special to say thank you. I really won the lottery with my whole team! They are hard workers and some of the most caring individuals I know. To avoid any broken diets and to give it a more heartfelt touch, I decided to make them a little gift. I’ve seen these succulent puns on Pinterest a few times and decided to give them a go!

This fun appetizer is what would happen if pizza met a cinnamon roll and it is everything good. I took these to the super bowl party and I already have a few idea to change them up a bit. The best part about them, they are super quick to make and the ingredient list is short! Most of the time we already have at least half of the 8 ingredients in the house. One of the changes I would recommend when I make them next time would be to use a glass baking dish instead of a cookie sheet. It would be more reminiscent of a cinnamon roll and it could be topped with extra cheese. The more cheese the better right??